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Nizam al-Mulk
Abu Ali Hasan ibn Ali Tusi (April 10, 1018 – October 14, 1092), better known by his honorific title of Nizam al-Mulk (Persian:نظام‌الملک‎‎, "Order of the Realm") . He was a Persian scholar and vizier of the Seljuq Empire. He held near absolute power for 20 years after the assassination of Alp Arslan in 1072. History In 1091, a group of Qarmatians sacked Basra and the Ismailis under the leadership of Hassan-i Sabbah seized the fortress of Alamut. Moreover, the succession to the sultanate was complicated by the death of two of Malik Shah's eldest sons: Dawud (died 1082) and Ahmad (died 1088), whom both were sons of the Kara-Khanid Princess Tarkan Khatun, she also had a son named Mahmud (born 1087) whom she wanted to succeed his father, while Nizam and most of the Seljuq army was in favor of Barkiyaruq, the oldest of all Malik Shah's living sons and born to a Seljuq princess. Turkan Khatun then allied with Taj al-Mulk Abu'l Ghana'im to try to remove Nizam from his post. Taj even accused Nizam of corruption before the sultan. Malik Shah I, however, did not dare to dismiss Nizam. Nizam later besieged Alamut, but was forced to withdraw. In 1092, Nizam, just before his death, knowing that his enemies were planning plots against him, made a famous speech at the court: "Tell the Sultan, If you have not already realized that I am your co-equal in the work of ruling, then know that you have only attained to this power through my statesmanship and judgement. Does he not remember when his father was killed, and I assumed responsibility for the conduct of affairs and crushed the rebels who reared their heads, from his own family and from elsewhere. Tell him that the stability of that regal cap is bound up with this vizierial inkstand, and that the harmony of these two interests is the means of securing all objects soughts after and the ultimate cause of all objects gained. If ever I close up this inkstand, that royal power will topple." Assassination Nizam al-Mulk was assassinated en route from Isfahan to Baghdad on 10 Ramadan 485 A.H. (14 October 1092) The mainstream literature says he was stabbed by the dagger of a member of the [[Hashashin|Assassins (Hashshashin)]] sent by the notorious Hassan-i-Sabbah near Nahavand, as he was being carried on his litter. The killer approached him disguised as a dervish. This account is particularly interesting in light of a possibly apocryphal story recounted by Jorge Luis Borges. In this story a pact is formed between a young Nizam al-Mulk (at that time known as Abdul Khassem) and his two friends, Omar Khayyamand Hassan-i-Sabbah. Their agreement stated that if one should rise to prominence, that they would help the other two to do likewise. Nizam al-Mulk was the first to do this when he was appointed vizier to the sultan Alp Arslan. To fulfil the pact he offered both friends positions of rank within the court. Omar refused the offer, asking instead to be given the means to continue his studies indefinitely. This Nizam did, as well as building him an observatory. Although Hassan, unlike Omar, decided to accept the appointment offered to him, he was forced to flee after plotting to dispose Nizam as vizier. Subsequently, Hassan came upon and conquered the fortress of Alamut, from where he established the Assassin Order. Another report says he was killed in secret by Malik Shah I in an internal power struggle. Consequently, his murder was avenged by the vizier's loyal academics of the Nizamiyyah (schools he founded), by assassinating the Sultan. The account is disputed and remains a controversy because of the long history of friendship between Malik Shah I and Nizam. Another report says that he was assassinated with Malik Shah I in the same year, after a debate between Sunni and Shi'a scholars which was prepared by him by the orders of Malik Shah I and which resulted in converting him and the king to the Shi'a ideology. The story is reported by the son-in-law of Nizam al-Mulk, Mughatil ibn Bakri who attended the debate. Reasons Behind the Assassination If the account about the Hashashin killing Nizam are true, then he must have been killed because he attempted to siege Alamut and wanted Hassan-i Sabbah arrested.